Now that the brakes are 120%, I am moving on to the drivetrain.
I want to replace all of the engine mounts to stop a rubbing/thumping issue that occurs while leaving from a stop. Also reseal this monster oil leaker.

Let me preface the following with this. I like the temperament of the 304, It has nice low to mid range grunt, and pulls OK at the end of the RPM range. The 2 barrel is intended to take full throttle at low rpm, and not fall on its face. That compromises upper end HP. If you have seen the published factory power curves where the engines are compared with and without dual exhaust, you can see that they respond well to flow improvements in stock trim. I would like to fully tap in to that while not effecting the low end performance one bit.

So I decided to just go through the engine, see what it needs and do it. Not sure if it will be stock, or "slightly" better than stock. Slightly better than stock to me is the smallest Comp or Isky cam that is available or a custom grind, mild compression increase, minor flow bench work, small 4 barrel carb and dual exhaust. Now beyond that I can't be certain what I may desire once the thing is apart in my shop.
Not totally off the table but not in the current plan are:
1) Stroke
2) Bore
3) Lightening the recip masses EG pistons and rods. (both custom units)
On 3 I've already done the leg work with my flailing 152 project.

On to the trans. I am fortunate to have the T34 factory installed in this truck. I've spent many many hours amassing replacement parts and part numbers to freshen it, including synchro clutches and other hard parts. The transfer case will suffer the same fate and get a freshening.

I also think I will tackle the cowl rust while the engine is out.

Stay tuned.

__________________
Robert Kenney

“Don't lift until the fear of death over comes the fear of speed.” Author Unknown

Update good and bad. So the bad first.
Have not touched the 1200C as I said I was going to above. Not out of the question, but it seems like the IH gods have found it in their hearts, and threatened to grant me an other Scout 80 (not new to me and I'll explain later) in a box.................. Well kind of in a box,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ok some of it in boxes and on the floor or will be, could be on my floor soon, well some time soon............ I hate not knowing the facts. It's totally up to me to create the facts but things are in the way.

Now to the good,,,,,,,,,, well kind of good.

Before all of this personal public IH exposure, before my 65' CS, I had a fairly low serial number(7000's) 61 Scout 80 that I played with and eventually tore apart in the interest of making it a nice example of a 61 scout 80. I had replaced all of the less than perfect front clip with perfect factory metal, (yes drilled out the spot welds and rosette welded them back in) and accomplished 99% of the body work including long blocking the heavy primer to paintable condition. Rebuilt the T90 and T18, swapped in a tapered axle dana 44 in the rear, and did a very sketchy spring over. I had collected hundreds of spare parts some NOS (when they were cheap).

Then along came the offer of my 65 CS and at a price I couldn't refuse. I only had room for one so I sold off the 61 to a fellow employee for peanuts and that included the spare parts that did not cross over to my 65.

I'm going to start a new post on the 61 so follow the rest of this there. if you are interested.

Long story short, I will need my truck to continue to be active in it's current state for a while and also I need to sell a car that I only purchased as an investment. It is only lacking mounting new Goodyear Blue Streak tires before it is off to the block. Until the 61 is close to completion the 1200c will stay as my primary truck.

__________________
Robert Kenney

“Don't lift until the fear of death over comes the fear of speed.” Author Unknown

Travelette update. The OG 304 continues to run like a top and despite my constant whipping and boot heels to the ribs, it is a very reliable rig. Still leaks oil but what IH doesn't.

The disk brakes are phenomenal! they work flawlessly. I have driven this thing as hard as I could. Stops straight and effortlessly. I have leaned on them hard enough to have thermal issues show by now.

I wish they were easier to reproduce. With time and money, I am sure I could create a kit at a reduced cost but just have to many irons in the fire to do much else.

__________________
Robert Kenney

“Don't lift until the fear of death over comes the fear of speed.” Author Unknown

Thought I'd tackle swapping out the some what bent tailgate with a nice one I had in the shop for severan years.. All was fine until removing the hinge plates. I should have remembered the 61 Scout.. I do now.

One side unscrewed with a little help gripping the chicken schizer slotted flat head screws.
The other side surrendered only after taking military action on it. WOD to cut off the screw heads off. Lucky me the screws backed out some before failing the nut retainers. Drilled out the nut retainer spot welds.

I'll make a replacement nut plate.

__________________
Robert Kenney

“Don't lift until the fear of death over comes the fear of speed.” Author Unknown

Made a drawing of the hinge plate nut plate, and made two just incase the easy side defects. I used 3/8 mild steel, I think anything above 1/4 would do but 5/16+ is best.

Blasted primed and painted the hinge plates.

I removed the latch parts from the old gate and began refurbishing them as much as possible. They are not in horrible condition, just dirty, and a few of the articulation step pins have loosened. I reset the coined ends to tighten them.
On the hand lever inside mechanism, the plate needs to be re-braze to the shaft. Should be easy if I could only find my brazing flux.

I have a question for anybody who has had their C series tailgate latches out, Did the spring loaded latch bars have a slight bend on the ends, just behind the tapered end? To me the bend looks deliberate and manufactured..
A photo of the latches, plates, and drawing are below.

__________________
Robert Kenney

“Don't lift until the fear of death over comes the fear of speed.” Author Unknown

So still assembling the new tailgate. That should be complete this weekend and then to fab/install the gate drop arresting bars. I sourced nice originals, and NOS assist springs. The nut or whatever that the top shoulder bolt screws into on the bed is MIA. Probably make a round nut plate and rosette weld them in place. That should do it.

Now to the bad news or good news depending on which side of this you're on. I really need a modern full size 4 wheel drive truck. I have decided ( I think ) to sell the T-ette. I just don't want to dedicate two truck's worth of garage space.
It is a great truck and it has been my daily driver truck since I got it back into shape. Never let me down. but when it comes to hauling up and down the local mountains, in the snow and wanting to head up to Mammoth to sky or hike on a moments notice, with family, and or friends, it is not ideal. Life and it's hills and valleys sometimes dictate a course of action that may not be what we want.

We'll see how this works out but I'm fairly certain it'll be for sale soon.

__________________
Robert Kenney

“Don't lift until the fear of death over comes the fear of speed.” Author Unknown

Tail gate progress update. Over all I'm happy with the outcome.
Nice to have the arresting linkage back in place and working properly. It took some massaging to straighten things out and replace the upper attach threads it was a worth wile project. And of course, photos.

__________________
Robert Kenney

“Don't lift until the fear of death over comes the fear of speed.” Author Unknown